Here we are again. Another Lent. Another wilderness wandering. Another start to reflecting on the world via my very sporadic writings. It seems Lent has been the time I feel most compelled to write. Perhaps because of the introspective nature of the season. Maybe it’s just the experience of taking the United Methodist Photo-A-Day challenge and turning it into a post. All I know is here we are again and here I go again.
Day 5: Pray
I love the form of today’s challenge word…pray.
Not “prayer.” Not “praying.” “Pray.”
Pray as a verb, as an action.
Unsure about today or tomorrow? Pray.
Concerned? Anxious? Grieving? Pray.
Feeling celebratory and want to express gratitude? Pray.
Excited? Thankful? Joyous? Pray.
This Lenten season, I am again leading a congregation into a practice of writing our prayers down on ribbons we will eventually see displayed. I intentionally choose colorful strips of cloth because it is easier to see what you write, but even more so, because of the striking explosion of color that will emerge when the greys and purples and blacks of Lent give way to the vibrant blues and yellows and greens of Easter.
This is not a denial of the heaviness of life, or the seriousness with which we are meant to consider our mortality and face our temptations during these forty days. Instead it is a reminder, while we dig deep and slow down and pay attention to the many ways we get it wrong, none of that is the whole of the story. There is Good News. There is forgiveness. There is new life. There is Easter.
So, for now, we pray. And when the new finally comes, you now what we’ll do then? Pray.
Life is better (when we pray) together,
Shawn
p.s. Want to participate in this prayer experience? Pray with us here.
Big Rubber Band Ball 